This application incorporates by reference U.S. Provisional Application 61/716,123, filed Oct. 19, 2012; U.S. Provisional Application 61/591,111, filed Jan. 26, 2012, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/752,003, filed Jan. 28, 2013; U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 61/186,610; 61/358,282; 61/476,110; 61/476,545; Ser. No. 12/797,286; Ser. No. 13/168,367; Ser. No. 61/591,111; and PCT/US2010/038160.
Based on the hypothesis that AIDS is caused by a unique agent, the HIV retrovirus, antiretroviral (ARV) therapy including a combination of inhibitors of the viral enzymes, reverse transcriptase and of protease has been utilized in HIV infected patients with significant success worldwide. The viral multiplication as assessed by the number of viral RNA copies in blood has been reduced to almost zero, resulting in increase of CD4 T lymphocytes, the main target of the virus, and in prevention of the most deadly opportunistic infections.
However, interruption of this treatment leads to a rapid rebound of the virus, indicating that a reservoir of HIV persists unaffected by the treatment. In fact, viral DNA can be detected by sensitive methods (PCR) in the plasma and red blood cell (RBC) fraction of HIV infected patients under continuous ARV therapy (1). Up to now, there has been no existing test to further explore the status of HIV, after ARV therapy has made the viral RNA undetectable in the patient's blood.
A strong oxidative stress has been observed even at the early stage of HIV infection (2). This oxidative stress, as detectable by measurement of various blood parameters (3), is only partly reduced by the ARV treatment.
Oxidative stress is a potent inducer of lymphocyte activation, a status required for HIV integration and multiplication (2).
Oxidative stress is generated by bacterial infections and therefore there is a possibility that a specific bacterial or bacterial-like factor is a promoter of HIV multiplication.
Alpha-proteobacteria of the Order Rickettsiales have an obligate intracellular lifestyle, and have coevolved with their various eukaryotic hosts, resulting in small reductive genomes and strict dependency on host resources. A high portion of Rickettsiales genomes encodes for proteins involved in transport and secretion. Some rickettsiales are symbionts and others are pathogenic.
Acinetobacter is a bacteria of order gamma-proteobacteria, and is widespread in the environment and is known to cause human pathology, especially in immune-compromised individuals. Acinetobacter is not as a rule an intracellular parasite, and is known to form biofilms.